WASHINGTON, Jan 4 (Reuters) - A U.S. bank regulator has fined Citibank $70 million for failing to address shortcomings in its anti-money laundering policies.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency fined the bank in late December and announced it on Thursday. The regulator assessed the civil penalty because the bank had failed to address concerns it had first flagged in 2012. (Reporting by Pete Schroeder; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)